Trainers Speak Out on Demand for Green Retrofit Workforce

The demand is there to create a new green economy, but do we have the trained workforce to begin the job?

More than 70 leading trainers recently shared views on how to meet the new demand for workers in the home energy retrofit market. Affordable Comfort, Incorporated, (ACI) hosted a Trainer Forum and a Green Jobs Day at its Home Performance Conference 2009, held in Kansas City. Both forums built on ACI’s Green Workforce Development Summit and White Paper, sponsored by DOE in July 2008.
Trainers across the country have been in extreme demand as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the new policy focus on energy reduction in existing homes. Important other drivers, such as the Green Jobs Act of 2007, climate change initiatives, tax credits, and Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards, reinforce this energy efficiency focus and have stimulated the entry of a host of new stakeholders into the retrofit market.
Longtime trainers agree that more trainers and training opportunities are needed immediately to satisfy the current demand for new workers across the whole range of home energy retrofit job classifications. Their work at the ACI Trainer Forum provides some guidance for new stakeholders and serves as a reminder of the resources that have grown out of 30 years of experience in weatherization and home performance retrofit.
ACI ...